Brolin Empey wrote:
> Anyway, I finally ordered a Nokia N900 from NewEgg.ca on Sunday. I
> expect the N900 to be more usable as a handset than my FR. Nokia
> released the N900 without USB Host support to meet deadlines because
> they could not have it certified for USB Host without fully working USB
> Host at the time of certification, but on Sunday I learned it is still
> possible for the N900 to use USB Host: there is a community project to
> make USB Host usage easy for end users. To be practical, I probably do
> not need USB Host on my N900 because it has a hardware keyboard and the
> Wireless LAN probably works easily, unlike my poor and frustrating
> experience trying to use Wireless LANs with QtMoko. However, lack of USB
> Host was one of the reasons I did not order an N900 months ago because
> the FR has USB Host. After I receive my N900, I will follow up to let
> this list know if my N900 experience is better than my FR experience.
I have been using Maemo 5 on my N900 for a few weeks now. So far, my
N900 experience is *far* better than my FR experience.
Unlike QtMoko, SMS works reliably on my N900. Maemo 5 also has
conversation view for SMS, which is far more usable than QtMoko, which
displays only one message at a time.
Unlike my FR, my N900 is actually a usable handset, even with background
noise. I can even talk on my N900 on a public street while being passed
by motor vehicles and pedestrians talking. Two people have mentioned
how much clearer I sound on my N900 than with QtMoko.
As I expected, I can live without USB Host on my N900 because of the
hardware keyboard and working Wireless LAN.
My N900 works well with our access point at work, which runs DD-WRT on a
Linksys WRT54GL v1.1.
My N900’s Wireless LAN connection was unreliable with my access point at
home, which is a crappy Siemens Gigaset SE567 wireless ADSL gateway
provided by Telus, my ADSL provider. I wanted to replace the Gigaset
SE567, which is owned by Telus, with a separate single-purpose ADSL
modem + gateway running DD-WRT anyway because the Gigaset SE567 does not
support WPA2 and traceroute does not work through it. I was going to
buy another WRT54GL to install DD-WRT on because I knew this combination
worked well at work and I was already familiar with it, but I researched
current gateways and ended up buying an Asus RT-N16. My N900 works well
with DD-WRT on my Asus RT-N16 at home. I have not even configured USB
networking on my N900 because the instructions on the Maemo wiki looked
like too much hassle and I do not need a wired connection because I have
a reliable wireless LAN connection at both home and work.
I know the N900’s kernel is relatively old (2.6.28.x) and the N900 is
less open than the FR, but this does not matter to me because it is an
acceptable compromise in order to have a far better experience with a
more powerful and current device.